Record number of jobs available in SC

While South Carolina’s jobless rate increased last month, the state workforce agency says employers are still offering a record number of jobs.

In its most recent seasonally-adjusted unemployment release, the Department of Employment and Workforce reported 2.113 million jobs in January. That’s up more than 3,000 jobs from the previous month. However, the state’s unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3 percent from a revised 4.2 percent during that same time.

“We are seeing our business payrolls continue to increase and that means they are adding jobs and where we’re at, a record level of over 2,113,000 jobs in the state of South Carolina now,” DEW spokesman Bob Bouyea said.

“A lot of its manufacturing,” he said. “Manufacturing saw increases. So did the trades and transportation and utility sector. Those were the two largest areas that had job growth.”

Bouyea said the auto industry is the source of those manufacturing jobs. BMW is expanding its Upstate operations, Volvo has started hiring for its Lowcountry plant and their parts suppliers are expanding.

“With those announcements comes the need for labor,” said Bouyea. “That’s the state’s number one resource.”

The national rate jobless rate is 4.1 percent. DEW says 61,100 jobs were available in January across South Carolina. In 2011, 43,631 jobs were available in the state, according to Bouyea. That number was 72,663 in 2015.

“Businesses continue to add jobs at a record pace,” DEW executive director Cheryl Stanton said. “People are finding jobs and others are entering the labor force to take advantage of the state’s robust economy, all of which are cause for celebration. With more than 61,000 jobs available across the state, DEW is preparing our residents, including those with barriers to employment, to be able to succeed in those jobs.”

The number of people reported as working increased by 463 last month, while the number of unemployed increased by nearly 2,300 to 100,178. The state’s labor force increased by more than 2,700 to 2.32 million overall.

“We’re in a really good time in South Carolina,” Bouyea said. “We are seeing our companies here just add jobs. Our job is to help them find their next worker.”

For more information on the jobs available in South Carolina, click here.